Ever After
by SecondAlternateLieutenant
Summary: Prompt from Makorra Week 2012 Day 7: Ever After. Warning, the level of fluff in this fic may cause you to have a fluff overload.


The line between sleep and consciousness was blurred uncomfortably in his brain. It was hard to remember the last time he'd had a good night of sleep, and this night certainly wasn't one. It took effort, but he worked his eyes open and smiled immediately at the tiny reason he hadn't been sleeping well.

He was beautiful. A perfect little replica of himself, and his mother lying just on the other side of him. Korra was unconscious, sleeping like a rock, but one hand rested on their son's stomach to make sure he was still there. Mako knew that the second little Ryu woke up; she'd stir to make sure he didn't move. He'd woken because the baby had made a little noise instead and was looking up at his father with pure amber eyes.

"Hey little guy." Mako touched his son's face gently. "Get some sleep so Mama and I can." He nearly pleaded with his son, but the baby wanted nothing of it and turned over to crawl closer to his Daddy with a little cry.

"He ok?" Korra lifted her head, eyes blurred closed, hair falling over her head as she slurred out the two words.

"Yeah he's fine, get some sleep." He urged her and she complied in a second, passing out onto her pillow again while he held Ryu on his chest, letting the baby grab at his jaw and nose. He was an inquisitive little guy, not nearly the fireball that was his mother, but they loved him just the same. "Come on, Mommy needs her sleep." He sat up, feeling his exhaustion in every bone as he carried his son into the next room.

They both had demanding jobs, but since his had kept him away from them for a few days, it was Korra's turn for some sleep. She had to work while taking care of the baby, and he had to work hard and come home to the baby. It was rough, and they rarely had a day without losing their tempers at each other, but at the end of the day it was worth it. "Da!" Ryu pointed to his bottle and looked expectantly at his father.

"Give me a minute kid." Mako smiled at the innocence in his son's eyes. It felt good to be able to provide for his son. His parents had done it for him and Bolin, but when they passed, he'd had to scrape and fight to get them at least one meal a day. And sometimes that meal came from less than appetizing places. But Ryu, named after his paternal grandfather, had food because he and Korra worked for it.

"Tank." Ryu grinned and pushed the bottle of milk into his mouth. He'd outgrown formula, but he loved waking up and having his milk and got annoyed with his parents if they gave him water or juice.

They hadn't been trying to have a baby when Ryu decided to make his appearance, and after only two years of marriage, they weren't really ready either. Married young, they'd talked about children, but also that they wanted to wait a few years, at least until they hit their mid-twenties. But when Ryu was born and in their arms, neither of them regretted a second of their son. He was beautiful, and even when he drove them out of their minds with sleep deprived annoyance, they loved him.

"Is he ok?" Korra's voice came into the room and he looked over at his wife walking toward him. She still looked exhausted, and had her robe wrapped tightly around her body.

"He's fine, you can sleep more." Mako tried to insist, but she shook her head and walked closer.

"No, I'm fine." She shrugged and sat unceremoniously in his lap. "You worked for three days straight."

"I'm alright." Mako wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled at how she rested her head in the crook of his neck. It gave him perfect access to inhale the scent of her hair. She smelled like sleep and their bed mixed up with the fresh clean scent he'd always associated with her. He grinned into her hair and placed a kiss on her shoulder.

"Ma!" Ryu pointed from his little chair happily at his mother and she smiled back at him.

"Hey little guy." She stifled a yawn. "Daddy get you your milk?" She asked and he nodded in response before smacking his hand on the table. "Hungry." Korra moved to get up, but Mako stood, lifting her up in his arms as he went.

"I'll get him; you've had him for days." He kissed her forehead and sat her down on his now empty chair before he went into the refrigerator and grabbed the bowl of fruit. As soon as the tiny pieces made it to the table in front of him, Ryu shoved them in his mouth happily.

"Why do you always do that?" A flash of annoyance passed over his wife's face. "I can take care of him."

"I know you can." Mako frowned at her. "I want to take care of him because I couldn't for a few days. It's not because you can't, it's just that I want to."

"Oh." Korra rubbed her face. "I'm sorry, I'm tired…"

"It's alright." The argument fizzled out easily. "He won't be a baby forever; we'll get some sleep eventually."

"No we won't." Korra sighed heavily.

"Why?" Mako frowned at her again.

"Because I'm pregnant again." She looked up at him with her vivid blue eyes piercing into his mind.

"What?" Mako stared at her. "How?" It was a stupid question if you took it logically, but Korra understood.

"I think it happened a few weeks ago when Ryu and I got home from visiting my parents." She gave him a grin as she stood and stepped into his arms. "I think we managed to do it three times that night, Mr. Hat-trick." The old nickname had taken on new meaning during their marriage and it always made him grin.

"Another baby?" He smiled at her and laid his hand on her flat stomach. "Wow."

"Yeah." Korra sighed and rested herself against him. They stood for a few long seconds until Ryu made a noise of annoyance that he was being ignored by his parents. "Think we can do it?" She moved to their son and gave him some more food to eat.

"Oh sure." Mako grinned at how she was attentively feeding their son with no real effort to fix her appearance. Her hair was absolutely stuck out everywhere, completely free of any ties as she'd been sleeping, and while she looked exhausted, her blue eyes were fixed on the baby. "We're pretty good with this one."

"I love him." Korra grinned at the baby suddenly, a light of energy starting to wake her up. "I've known about this one for two days now and I love it too." Her hands were pressed to her abdomen as she looked up at her husband.

"I've had what, five minutes, and I love it." Mako pressed a kiss between her eyebrows. "Pretty good life, isn't it?"

"Pretty good." Korra agreed, beaming up at her husband. "We did pretty good for our first one, let's see how the next one is."

"A little girl." Mako crouched next to her so he was eye level with Ryu and below her eye level. "A little girl who's as beautiful and impressive as her mother." He grinned widely at her as she looped her arms around his neck.

"Not possible." Mischief sparkled in her eye as she gave him a kiss and pulled back when he laughed.

"Fair enough." Mako chuckled and straightened to press a kiss to Ryu's fuzzy head. The baby looked up at him with wide eyes and grinned. "I wouldn't want our kid to be the Avatar anyway."

"I'd have to be dead." Korra frowned at him. "Reincarnation and all that." She was laughing now. "Ever think about just how many people you're having sex with?"

"Lord no." Mako scowled at her. "Thanks for that mental image."

"You pictured Tenzin." Korra started laughing hard at the look on his face. "Oh you did because you never got to meet Aang." She started laughing and because she was, Ryu started to giggle and bounce in his seat. She pulled him into her lap as she laughed. Mako rolled his eyes while he tried to suppress his grin and came up to them, stuck his hands in there and tickled his son.

They were both exhausted, they had their son and she was expecting a second child. Life was pretty damn good.


End file.
